Importance Of Time In Christian Leadership

DIFFERENT PEOPLE have different attitudes towards time and how they consider it as important to them. A person who carries vision regards time and sees time as an important creation of God, but a visionless person has no interest in knowing how important time is in making use of it to contribute to personal development, national development and global development.

God is the creator of time; He is a believer of time and user of time. God knows the importance of time and is time-conscious. From the pages of the Bible we see how important time is to God and some men.

It is written in Ecclesiastes 9:11, “Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, but time and chance happen to them all.” Again it is written about God in Galatians 4:4 that, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son…”

God makes things happen according to the times scheduled for their manifestation. But before a further discussion can continue, there is the need to explain what time really is. What exactly is the definition of time? The Merriam Webster dictionary defines time as “the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exist or continues”. Some scholars have also “defined time as a stretch of duration in which things happen.”

It is difficult to count many great achievers and influencers of the world who failed to attach importance to time. Professor Stephen Adei has observed in his book, “Called To Lead: Be The Leader Your Family Needs” that, “In an age with instant everything, it may seem odd to talk about time management.

“Yet all good things require time. It takes time to grow spiritually, because it requires reading the Bible and obeying its teaching, praying, fellowshipping, and serving the Lord.” Adei does not end here. He also asserts that, “It takes time to build a financial nest. It takes time to acquire marketable skills, which these days, often include college education.”

This should remind all and sundry who purpose in their hearts to achieve success in this life to apply wisdom concerning the use of time. Time waits for no one; it slips away every second, and a wasted time is irrecoverable. It is a wasted opportunity to study, work, pray, sell a product, preach Christ to an unbeliever, write a book or engage in other profitable activities.

Jesus Christ, the greatest servant leader who walked the earth lived to show that time was important. Time was created through Him, according to Colossians 1:16, yet He respected time, operated in time and on time. He did not want to waste time concerning His assignment on earth. He had work to do within a period His Father had given Him to do.

Thus Christ said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4). Jesus told these words to His first disciples to learn and apply, and the message is given to all Christian leaders also to learn from it and apply.

In this message, Jesus Christ was emphasizing the importance of time. He knew that there was season and time for everything under the sun. First, it must be understood that work must be done during the day, that is, when men are awake with life in them within the environment of available opportunities. But when the day is wasted, no meaningful work can be done in the night.

Moreover, Christ Jesus was time-conscious and knew when to do things at the right time for the fulfillment of His divine assignment. In John 2:3 when His mother, Mary, said to Him, “They have no wine,” Jesus raised the issue of time to His mother saying, “My hour has not yet come.”

In other words, Christ Jesus always planned what He would do according to scheduled time. Again, one day, Jesus' brothers decided to force Him to go to Judea, that His disciples also may see the works He was doing. But Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, your time is always here.”

Now, in today's world where systems are run by fast-moving technologies in commerce, ministry, education and industry requires that the busy Christian leader diligently follows Christ Jesus and learn about His time management principles for efficiency and success.

Of course, Christ lived in ancient society devoid of the modern technologies, yet His time management principles are still applicable today. It is important to state that each Christian is imbued with unique talents and gifts given by God. They are potentials that lie within every individual.

And God expects that these innate abilities are used to serve Him, His Church and the rest of humanity. On the day of reckoning, the question will be asked about what we used our gifts for; the question will be asked about the work we did within the timeframe apportioned to each of us.

When a good person dies, it is assumed that he or she has finished their work given them to do on earth. The apostle Paul was thus not wrong at all when he instructed that time should be redeemed, because he knew the valuableness of time.

BY James Quansah

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